Dream Come True
by blindingstars
Summary: Chad and Taylor remain friends after the date at the after party, but with the new school year that has arrived, certain events cause them to rethink their relationship and reconsider the possibilities. CHAYLOR, with a bit of troyella
1. Chapter 1

The summer spent at Lava Springs was over and the gang returns for eleventh grade at East High.

"Alright! A new school year, and us Wildcats are gonna be even better than last year!" said Chad Danforth, as the Wildcat basketball team entered the school. He raised a hand to high five his best friend Troy Bolton but Troy was too busy looking around, searching for someone. He smiled when he spotted her by her locker.

"Hey!" Troy leaned against the locker beside Gabriella's.

"Hey," she grinned at him. Troy swooped down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Come on guys, no PDA!" Chad pretended to shield his eyes with his chemistry textbook.

"Is that a chemistry book I see in Chad Danforth's hands? Has knowledge finally entered your mind and replaced basketball?" said Tayler McKessie as she strolled over to meet Gabriella. Gabriella giggled at her comment.

Chad and Taylor had gone on one date to the after party of the basketball game the previous year. It went well, but they never officially started dating. They were of course more civil toward each other, but there was still the occasional banter between the two of them, along with multiple flirtations.

"Chad thought that if you saw him with a Chemistry book, you'd fall in love with him." Said Zeke. Chad used the Chemistry book to hit Zeke on the head. "Ow!"

"This is called coming prepared for a new year." Chad retorted. Taylor rolled her eyes and turned to Gabriella. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. See you later Troy!" she kissed him on the cheek and left with Taylor.

"So uh….when are you planning to ask Taylor to be your girlfriend?" asked Troy.

"Uh, never? Dude, I do dates, not girlfriends!" Chad replied.

"I thought you like her?" said Jason.

"Yeah sure, like all other girls I date." Chad replied.

RIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG 

The boys groaned as the bell rang for first period – homeroom.

"Let's hope we don't get Darbus again or I'll-"

"Or you'll what Mr Danforth?" asked Miss Darbus as they stepped into the classroom.

"Uh…nothing Miss Darbus, just talking about how much I was looking forward to seeing you again!" said Chad, hurriedly taking his seat. The class erupted in laughter, which soon died down when Miss Darbus gave everyone a quelling stare.

During lunchtime, the students were broken up into their respective cliques at the different lunch tables. Though this year, there was a significant change as the table with the Scholastics Decathalon team had a change of seating arrangement and was now situated right beside the East High basketball team.

"So, has Chad asked you out yet?" asked Gabriella, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Oh puh-lease! He's probably too preoccupied with cheerleaders and basketball to even think about me." Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you know Chad likes you." Gabriella continued to tease her.

"We all know that he sees me only as a science geek who happened to just be _one of_ the few girls he ask on dates." Said Taylor. Somehow when she said this, she felt slightly saddened. Why though? Why was she saddened? She didn't really know either.

"Hey beautiful," said Troy, as he came over and sat down beside Gabriella. Gabriella smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Well you two enjoy yourselves, I'll just be in the chemistry lab." Taylor grinned, gathering her things and walking out of the cafeteria. Seeing Taylor leave, Chad got up and ran after her.

"Hey Taylor! Wait up!" Taylor stopped as Chad jogged to catch up with her.

"What's up?" she asked, resuming making her way to the chemistry lab with Chad falling in step beside her.

"I was just wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner this Friday." He asked.

"What, did the cheerleaders reject you or something?" Taylor asked, raising her eyebrows and grinning.

"No. For you information, they are dying to go out with me, but I happened to be feeling gracious enough to accompany you on Friday, seeing as Troy and Gabriella would probably be spending it together, and you would be alone." Said Chad.

"I happen to have other friends to keep me company other than Gabriella."

"Really? Hadn't noticed…."

Taylor shot him a look.

"Just kidding! So do we have a date?" Chad asked.

"Pick me up at 7…" Taylor sighed.

"Great! See you!"

A slight smile touched her lips as she watched him bound away happily.

**A/N: hey guys! All reviews welcomed, good or bad! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Taylor adjusted her baby blue top and fidgeted with the hemline of her denim skirt. She wanted to look nice for Chad, so she had decided to put on a touch of lip-gloss. She ran a hand through her curly hair and smiled; satisfied with the way she looked.

Meanwhile, Chad stood at the front porch of Taylor's house, and somehow, he felt slightly nervous. He pressed the doorbell and Mr McKessie opened the door. He recognized Chad as the boy who took Taylor to the after party.

"Ah…Chad Danforth isn't it?"

"Yeah. Uh..good to see you sir. I'm here to pick up Taylor," said Chad.

"Yes, come in and have a drink while you wait." Mr McKessie motioned for him to come inside.

Taylor heard Chad and her Dad talking downstairs. With one last check in the mirror, she grabbed her purse and went downstairs. Typically, Chad and her father were talking about basketball.

"Hey Chad," she said. Chad turned and almost spilt his drink when he saw her. She looked beautiful.

"Hey, you look great!" he said. She blushed slightly and thanked him.

"Have her home before 11, not a minute later!" said Mr McKessie.

"Yeah, sure Mr McKessie," said Chad.

"Bye Dad." Taylor kissed her Dad on the cheek and left with Chad.

"So, where are we going?" Taylor asked as Chad opened the car door for her.

"You'll see," he smiled as he slid into the driver's seat beside her.

They kept driving till they reached _Dome_, a nice restaurant that had always been Taylor's favorite as it was also near the beach. They were seated in a corner of the restaurant away from the other customer's.

"So? What do you think?" asked Chad after they had placed their orders.

"About what?"

"This place for our date."

"Honestly, I'm impressed a lunkhead basketballer like you could actually think of a place like this to bring a girl to," she replied, smiling at him.

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment." Chad grinned.

"Do you usually take all those cheerleaders to places like this too?" Taylor asked.

"Well…no. They usually want to go to places like pizza parlors or somewhere obvious where we can be seen by others." Chad replied.

"Cheerleaders…" Taylor shook her head and muttered.

"Hey! I don't only date cheerleaders you know!"

"Really? Well name a girl you've dated that isn't a cheerleader."

"Um…well…uh…"

"Ha! Told you!"

"Well sorry to burst your bubble miss know-it-all, but there is a girl I've dated who isn't a cheerleader." Chad said smugly.

"Who?"

"You…."

Taylor pretended to look away to hide her smile. Secretly, she was glad that she was the only girl Chad dated outside the circle of jocks and cheerleaders.

After dinner, they decided to take a walk on the beach. Taylor walked with her slippers in one hand, her feet near the water, so that when the tide came up, it would wash over them. She loved that feeling. Chad just walked beside her, occasionally glancing at her and marveling at how beautiful she looked with the sea breeze whipping her hair.

"So tell me, is there anything else you do besides school work?" asked Chad.

Taylor shot him at look. "For your information, I do have a life outside of school. I bake."

"You bake? You're kidding right? How come no one ever spoke about your baking?"

"Just didn't want to steal the limelight from Zeke." Taylor winked at him. "Anyway, I don't bake often. There are only two occasions where you can find me baking. Either when I'm really happy, or when I'm really sad."

"Why's that?"

"Cause, when you're happy and you bake, all that happiness just goes into that baking and it always turns out great. And when you're sad, the baking will make you feel better."

Chad nodded and they walked in silence for a while.

"So how about you? What else do you do besides basketball?"

"Well…basketball's basically my whole life…"

"There goes that glimmer of hope for lunkhead basketballers such as yourself." Taylor giggled.

"You're never gonna stop calling me that are you?" Chad grinned.

"Nope. You'll always be my lunkhead basketballer." Taylor replied.

Chad grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Just as long as I'm always yours…" he whispered. He leaned in and Taylor held her breath, waiting for their lips to finally meet. Just then, there was a drop of water, and another. Rain started pouring down.

"Oh my goodness!" Taylor and Chad started laughing.

Grabbing Taylor's hand, Chad said, "Come on!"

The both of them ran back to Chad's car. The ride back to Taylor's house was silent as they were both still thinking of what could have happened back at the beach. Would they have kissed if it hadn't rained?

When they finally reached Taylor's house, they ran for her porch, not wanting to get even wetter in the rain.

"Well…what a way to end a date huh," said Chad, pointing out at the rain.

"Yeah well, it was fun anyway. Thanks." Taylor smiled.

They both stood there in awkward silence for a moment, not knowing what they should do. Should they finish what happened on the beach just now? Taylor hastily kissed Chad on the cheek to end the awkward moment.

"Well goodnight. See you in school on Monday." She opened the door and quickly closed it behind her, leaning her back on it for a while.

Chad stood outside grinning, his hand on his cheek where Taylor had kissed him. It was good enough…for now.

**A/N: Hey guys! thanks for the awesome reviews! really appreciate it (:**


	3. Chapter 3

"Dude I'm telling you, my date with Taylor was amazing!" said Chad, bouncing his basketball while pacing back and forth in Troy's room. Troy just sat on his bed watching Chad with amusement.

It was Saturday, the day after Chad and Taylor's date, and Chad had decided he had to come over to Troy's to tell him all about it.

"Do you know that she bakes? She bakes! How great can a girl get?" said Chad.

"Dude, you like her a lot don't you?" asked Troy.

"What? No way!" said Chad, throwing the ball to Troy, who caught it with ease. Troy raised his eyebrows at Chad.

"Ok, maybe I like her a little more than the other girls I've dated…" Chad said. Troy gave him a look as he passed the ball back to him.

"Alright fine, so I do like her. Oh man…I'm screwed! What if she doesn't like me back! Dude you've got to help me out!" Chad started pacing even faster.

"Just tell her you like her! How difficult can that be?" Troy chuckled.

"Um, very difficult! In case you haven't noticed, I haven't had a proper girlfriend before," said Chad.

"Yeah well I've noticed." Troy laughed.

"This is no time for jokes man! Come on, you're dating Gabriella, and Gabriella and Taylor are tight, she must know some way to help me?" said Chad.

"Well, I'll see what I can do," said Troy, getting up from the bed and patting Chad on the shoulder.

"Oh Gabs, you have no idea how romantic he is…" Taylor fell onto Gabriella's bed with a sigh.

"Chad Danforth? Romantic? That's a first…" Gabriella giggled.

"Oh he is, really. Remember what he did for me back at Lava Springs during the summer?" said Taylor. Gabriella nodded.

_Flashback:_

_Taylor, Gabriella and Chad watch as Troy coaches Sharpay on the golf course._

"_That girl's got more moves than an octopus in a wrestling match," said Taylor, a hand on her hip._

"_Nah, he knows how to swim," said Chad._

"_Yeah, Troy can handle himself." Gabriella agreed._

"_I did overhear him asking her for her opinion on his new, Italian golf shoes." Taylor said._

"_He didn't ask me…" said Gabriella._

"_So wake up sister! She's basically offering him a college education just to sing with her in the talent show," said Taylor._

"_Troy would never do that…" Chad assured Gabriella._

"_You got eyes, use them." Taylor shrugged._

"_Let's go in…" said Gabriella._

"_Yeah I gotta go." Chad said. Then he turned to Taylor. "Hey, see you later?"_

"_Okay." Taylor smiled._

_Later that night, Taylor made her way back to the kitchens._

'_I wonder what Chad's got planned. Better not be getting us in trouble, sneaking back to the kitchens at this time of the night…' she thought to herself. Just then, someone tapped her on her shoulder. She jumped and almost shrieked but a hand quickly clamped on top of her mouth._

"_Shh, it's just me!" Chad whispered. Removing his hand from her mouth, he took her hand and pulled her into the kitchen. "Come on!"_

_Once inside, Taylor saw that Chad had lighted scented candles on one of the counters. There were also two trays of food that were covered. Taylor sat down and Chad said in a French accent, "Your gourmet meal Madame."_

"_Gourmet meal? Let me guess, you bought this ready made and heated it up?" Taylor laughed._

"_For your information, I am quite a cook!" Chad pretended to pout. Pulling off the cover of the tray, he revealed his 'gourmet meal'. "Tadah!"_

_Taylor laughed again when she saw that the 'gourmet meal' was turkey and bacon sandwich._

"_Alright, so maybe I ain't as great as Zeke, but hey, it still counts for something right?" Chad grinned, sitting down beside Taylor._

_They spent the night talking and laughing in the kitchens, eating the 'gourmet meal' that Chad had prepared._

_End flashback._

"You're falling for Chad aren't you!" Gabriella asked.

"What? You've got to be kidding." Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Come on Tay…it's so obvious! And besides, the both of you look so cute together!" Gabriella insisted.

"Ok, so maybe I do like Chad a little," Taylor admitted. Gabriella gave her a look. "Alright fine, maybe more than a little. But it doesn't matter Gabs, he doesn't like me that way. You know how much of a flirt he is."

"You never know. I can tell you're special to Chad," said Gabriella.

"You really think so?" asked Taylor, sitting up on Gabriella's bed. Gabriella nodded. Taylor sighed and fell back down on the bed again.

"Oh Troy you would never guess what Taylor told me today!" said Gabriella over the phone to Troy that very night.

"Well you'd never guess what Chad told me either. You go first," said Troy.

Gabriella then told Troy about how Taylor was starting to realize that she likes Chad.

"That's exactly what Chad told me too! He likes Taylor, but he's too thickheaded to tell her. He says he needs your help." Troy said.

"My help?" Gabriella laughed. "Tell him my advice is to tell Taylor soon."

"Told him that already, but he wouldn't listen. You could try telling him again tomorrow."

"Yeah well I'm just really happy for the both of them."

"Me too. Finally Chad is gonna have a real girlfriend. You know he's been flirting with girls since preschool?"

"You're kidding me," Gabriella laughed.

"Nope. Still remember the first day of pre-k he came up to me and said 'Hey, my name is Chad. Let's check out all the pretty girls in class together!' And that's how we became friends."

"No way!"

"Yes way…"

"That's really cute. Oh I got to go. See you in school tomorrow."

"Ok. Uh, Gabriella, I…I love you. Sweet dreams." Troy waited nervously for Gabriella's reply. Gabriella held her phone closer to her ear and smiled.

"I love you too Troy. Sweet dreams…"

**A/N: hello all! Just couldn't resist putting in some Troyella at the end. Hope you like this one! (: and by the way, the part where gabriella, chad and taylor watch troy coaching sharpay was part of HSM2 if you guys can recall. I DO NOT OWN THAT SCENE. just the kitchen scene that follows it (:**


	4. Chapter 4

The Monday after Chad and Taylor's date, Taylor walked into homeroom and settled down at the back. Gabriella soon came in with Troy and the basketball team, which of course included Chad. Taylor blushed slightly when Chad grinned at her. She still couldn't believe that she had admitted to Gabriella that she likes Chad.

Gabriella came over and sat beside Taylor. At that moment, Taylor received a message on her phone.

_Check in your desk (:_

_-Chad_

Confused, she opened her desk and found a brown paper bag. Opening it, she had to suppress her giggles as she found a turkey and bacon sandwich. Then another message came.

_Hope you like your gourmet meal. Meet me at the baseball field for lunch._

_-Chad_

Grinning to herself, Taylor replaced her phone inside her bag.

Gabriella leaned over and whispered, "Someone's happy…"

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Clutching the brown paper bag, Taylor made her way to the baseball field, wondering why of all places Chad wanted to have lunch there. Reaching the baseball field, she sighed to herself as she realized Chad was not there yet.

"Late as usual…" she muttered to herself.

"Taylor!"

Spinning around, she saw Chad jogging up to her.

"Hey," she greeted. "What are we doing on the baseball field?"

"Well, it's a nice place, not too many people, I thought you'd like to…uh…spend some time together. I mean, we could go back to the cafeteria if you want." Chad said quickly. Taylor smiled.

"No, this is perfect."

Chad grinned and grabbed Taylor's hand, leading her towards a tree nearby. Settling themselves under its shade, they began to eat.

"So, how does the gourmet meal taste?" Chad joked. Taylor pretended to gag and throw up.

"You know I'm only eating this cause I'm being nice right? For all we know, I could end up in hospital tonight due to food poisoning." Taylor said.

"Ouch, that hurt McKessie." Chad said, putting a hand over his heart. "You're gonna have to pay me back for that one."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" asked Taylor, turning to face Chad and finding her face only inches away from his. The two of them stared at each other for a while, neither of them saying anything. Then Chad broke the silence.

"I can think of a few ways…" he whispered, leaning in. When their lips met, both of them closed their eyes. Taylor's hands found their way around Chad's neck, playing with his unruly hair while Chad wrapped his arms around Taylor's waist.

After a few minutes, they broke apart and Chad whispered, "Turkey and bacon sandwich tastes good…"

They were about to kiss again when Taylor's phone rang. Pulling away from Chad, she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tay! Where are you? The Decathlon team meeting is starting soon and we can't start without our team captain," said Gabriella. Taylor mentally kicked herself for forgetting the meeting. She was too excited about meeting Chad to remember.

"I'm sorry, I'll be there in five minutes." Taylor said, and then she hung up. She turned to Chad, hating herself for having to end this right now, when she was sure that Chad Danforth was on the verge of asking her to be his girlfriend.

"What's up?" asked Chad.

"I'm sorry Chad but I gotta run, the Decathlon team meeting is starting soon and I have to be there. I totally forgot about it or I would have told you earlier." Taylor explained.

"Hey it's cool, I'll just go find the guys." Chad got up, pulling Taylor up as well. Taylor nodded and said goodbye. Chad stood under the tree, watching her go. He had a silly grin on his face as he replayed the kiss again in his mind, remembering the feel of Taylor's lips against his. He had kissed tons of girls before, but not one of them came close to what he felt when he kissed Taylor McKessie.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Alright guys, that's all. Don't forget we're staying back tomorrow to do the experiments together!" Taylor dismissed the Decathlon team. Gabriella came over to her.

"Ok girl, spill," she said.

"What?" Taylor asked innocently, walking out of the science lab with Gabriella beside her.

"Oh come on, everyone knew you and Chad went off to have lunch together. Troy said Chad probably brought you to the baseball field. Did he?" asked Gabriella.

"Yes he did. How did Troy know?" said Taylor.

"Oh my goodness! This is great! Troy says that Chad loves to go to the baseball field when he needs time alone, cause there's always no one there. He rarely even lets Troy go with him there. And he once told Troy, that he would never bring anyone there, unless he was madly in love with that person. Well of course, when he said it he was joking, but still, this is wonderful news!" Gabriella said it all very fast and quickly inhaled when she was done. Taylor stopped walking and stared at Gabriella.

"Are you serious?" she asked. Gabriella nodded. Taylor smiled to herself.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

After school, Troy went searching for Chad. He hadn't seen him since lunchtime and they hadn't had much time to talk considering Chad spent most of it with Taylor. He heard the sound of sneakers skidding on the basketball court and entered to find Chad shooting hoops.

"Hey man! I've been looking for you!" said Troy. Chad turned and passed the ball to Troy, who caught it and dribbled it towards the hoop. Chad stole the ball back and jumped, making a perfect shot.

"Not bad…" said Troy. "So, what's this I heard about you taking Taylor to the baseball field?"

Chad dribbled the ball to the other end of the court and Troy had to run after him.

"We just had lunch, that's all." Chad said, jumping and trying to make a shot, but Troy grabbed the ball and dribbled it to the other end.

"Oh yeah? Just lunch huh. So what about that time you said you'd never bring anyone there unless you were madly in love with that person?" asked Troy.

"Dude, come on, I was joking!" said Chad, trying to prevent Troy from shooting, but the ball made it through the hoop.

"Come on, I already know you like Taylor. Admit it, you wanted to ask her to be your girlfriend!" said Troy, throwing the ball at Chad.

"Alright fine, I wanted to, but it didn't go as planned. She had to go off for some Decathlon meeting," said Chad. He and Troy went over to the bleachers and sat down.

"Ah well, better luck next time then. The time will come." Troy said.

"Yeah well it's ok. At least I got to kiss her." Chad grinned.

"You what? Whoa, Taylor didn't tell Gabriella that!" said Chad.

"Oh it was just, you know, very brief," said Chad.

"Judging by that look on your face, I don't think it was very brief." Troy laughed.

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the really late update, but I've been busy with stuff at school and all. Hope you guys like this one! (:**


	5. Chapter 5

Chad sat with the basketball team during lunch. He was rather fidgety as he kept looking up to see if Taylor was there yet. The Decathlon team was having another meeting and was not in the cafeteria for lunch yet.

As usual, the cheerleaders were also crowded around the basketball team table. Sandra Johnson, head cheerleader, had had her eyes set on Troy Bolton for as long as Sharpay had in the past, though of course Sharpay was dating Zeke now. After it became known that Troy and Gabriella were officially dating, Sandra decided it was time for a change of target: Chad Danforth, Troy's righthand man, ultimate cutie, great basketballer and a smile to die for.

Sandra sauntered over to Chad and sat beside him, placing a hand on his thigh.

"Hey Chad…"

"Uh hi," Chad glanced at her briefly and resumed his look out for Taylor. He barely noticed she had her hand on him.

"So…how's training for the basketball season?" asked Sandra, her arms circling around his neck.

"What? Um…do you mind?" said Chad, removing her arms from his neck, but they found their way back again. Crawling onto Chad's lap, she perched herself there and smiled sweetly at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Taylor McKessie walking into the cafeteria with the rest of the Decathlon team. Leaning into Chad, she pretended she was whispering something into his ear. Chad had his hands on her waist, trying to push her off, but it all happened too fast. This was the scene that Taylor caught them in: Sandra on top of Chad, her arms around him, leaning in to whisper in his ear, and Chad with his hands on her waist.

Taylor had a look of shock upon her face and Chad immediately stood up, causing Sandra to fall off him and onto the ground. With hurt written all over her face, Taylor turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Taylor!" Chad called out, running after her.

"Taylor wait!" Chad grabbed her arm but she shook him off.

"Let me go!" she cried out. He was shocked to see tears in those beautiful brown eyes.

"I- "

"I need to go, finish off an experiment…" Taylor muttered, turning away from him. She walked away, leaving Chad staring helplessly after her.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chad waited at Taylor's locker the next morning, determined to explain the situation to her. When Taylor arrived and saw him standing by her locker, she hesitated before making her way there.

"Taylor! Look I can explain what happened yest- " Chad was interrupted by Taylor.

"Explain what? There's nothing to explain," said Taylor, smiling at him.

"What? But…in the cafeteria…"

"Oh you mean with Sandra? She your new girlfriend? You guys seemed pretty cozy." Taylor laughed.

Chad frowned. He didn't understand why Taylor was pretending it didn't matter, but that was exactly what Taylor was doing, pretending it didn't matter.

"Taylor why are you acting like this?"

"Like what? Oh come on, you don't seriously expect me to be all 'congratulations on your new girlfriend Chad', do you?" Taylor laughed again. "So you gonna take her to _Dome_? Nothing like a quiet and romantic evening with your girlfriend right?"

"She isn't my girlfriend Taylor…"

"Oh you mean you haven't asked her yet? Well when do you plan to? She's head cheerleader you know. Just the right type of girl for you." Taylor grinned.

"Taylor don't do this baby…" Chad said, reaching out to hug her, but Taylor quickly pulled away. She let her happy pretense fall away and replaced it with hurt and anguish.

"Don't call me that Chad…" Taylor said softly, tears forming in her eyes again.

"But- "

"Look, it's none of my business who you want to date. You don't have to explain anything to me ok? I mean, it's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything…" Taylor muttered. Closing her locker, she walked away from him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

During lunch that day, Chad watched as Taylor came into the cafeteria and dumped a box of cookies onto the Decathlon team's table. She had been ignoring him the whole day and not giving him an opportunities to speak to her. It was either that or pretending to be all smiles when everyone knew that inside she was hurting like crazy. And what was worst was that Taylor, being her usual stubborn self, wouldn't let him explain it to her. And neither would she listen to Gabriella, who, firstly was already tired to trying to persuade her to listen to Chad, and secondly was afraid to bring up the topic again as Taylor had threatened to not speak to her if she mentioned Chad again.

"Here, baked these fresh. I'll be in the science lab if you need me. Enjoy!" Taylor forced a smile, then left the cafeteria.

Gabriella took the box over to the basketballers. Troy grabbed one and took a bite.

"Wow these are good, did Zeke bake them?"

"No…Taylor did," said Gabriella sadly.

"Man you're right dude, that girl can bake." Troy said to Chad.

"You don't understand," Gabriella shook her head. "Taylor only bakes when- "

"When she's really happy, or really sad, cause baking helps her feel better…" Chad muttered.

Gabriella nodded.

"Chad you have to do something…"

"I know…but what?" said Chad.

"I don't know, anything to stop her from hurting…"

**A/N: Hey everyone! once again, sorry for the late update. good news is that it's my school vacation now! so hopefully i'd be able to update more, though there are still stuff i'll be busy with. enjoy this one!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chad rang the doorbell and waited nervously at the door. He paced the front porch and looked up when the door opened.

"Chad?" Mr McKessie raised his eyebrows. "Look boy, my Taylor doesn't want to see you right now, so I'm guessing it's a good idea for you to head home."

"Mr McKessie, I know I made a mistake, and I'm trying to make it right. I need your help."

Sighing, Mr McKessie stepped out onto the front porch and closed the door behind him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Taylor shoved her hands into her jeans pockets as she made her way home. She had been over at Gabriella's for dinner and it had been awkward trying to avoid the whole Chad thing. As she neared her house, she was surprised to find that her Dad's car was not in the driveway.

'That's strange, Dad's usually home by now.' Taylor thought to herself.

She made her way to her front porch and pushed the key into the lock. Turning it, she entered the house, only to be greeted by the sight of red rose petals covering almost every inch of the ground, scented candles lighted in almost every corner, and soft music being played in the background.

Stepping into the house and closing the door behind her, Taylor smiled as she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Just then she heard a voice.

"Hey…"

Snapping her eyes open, she saw Chad Danforth standing before her. In his hand was a single red rose. He didn't dare to come too near to her, in fear of how she would react, she could tell.

"Hey…" she replied.

They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other. Then the both of them took a step toward each other at the same time. They laughed nervously, trying to break the tension between them.

"Here…" Chad handed the rose to her.

"Thank you…"

"Look Tay, I'm really sorry. What happened in the cafeteria wasn't how it looked like. I was looking out for you, waiting for you to come into the cafeteria and I didn't notice what she was doing. I really didn't mean for it to happen," said Chad.

Taylor stared into his eyes, trying to see if he was lying or not, and all she saw was a whole lot of sincerity in those brown eyes.

Smiling, she asked, " Why were you waiting for me?"

"Cause…cause I, uh…I wanted to talk to you in private."

"About what?"

"About…I….um….I wanted to ask if you'd be my girlfriend," Chad said barely audibly, but Taylor heard him anyway, and she couldn't stop the grin that was spreading on her face.

Taking his hand in hers, she said, "Come on, let's dance…"

Smiling back at her, Chad put his hand around her waist while she rested her head on his shoulder. The both of them closed their eyes, just enjoying the moment. It went on for quite a while before Taylor broke the silence.

"Yes," she said.

"What?" Chad asked, his eyes still closed.

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," said Taylor.

Chad stopped dancing and pulled away so he could see if she was really serious.

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, really." Taylor giggled. "And I'm sorry too, I should have let you explain, I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

But Chad wasn't really listening anymore. He had a big, goofy grin plastered on his face as he proceeded to hug Taylor tightly.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you said yes!" he exclaimed. Laughing, Taylor hugged him back.

About an hour later, Chad and Taylor stayed curled up on the couch with Taylor's head resting on Chad's shoulder and his arms around her.

"Chad, how in the world did you manage this?" asked Taylor, gesturing around the room.

"It wasn't that hard, all I had to do was ask your parents for permission to use the house. They agreed to stay out for a while, but they'll be back at midnight. Then all I had to do was set the place up," Chad replied.

"Thank you. This is the sweetest, and most romantic thing that anyone has ever done for me." Taylor said, as she kissed him on the cheek. Chad turned and captured her lips with his. He expertly tugged at her lower lip, licking her lips and making them part. His tongue entered her mouth and played with hers.

When they broke apart, Chad whispered, "God help me, I think I'm falling in love with you McKessie…"

"I think I'm already in love with you Danforth…" Taylor whispered back.

Kissing the top of her head, Chad hugged her even closer. And that was how Mr and Mrs McKessie found their daughter when they got home at midnight – asleep in the arms of a certain lunkhead basketballer.

**A/N: There you go, chapter six! hope you guys liked it. will most likely be the final chapter. i'm sorry that the whole story is so short. if i do happen to write something that'd be a good continuation for this story, i promise to continue. but yes, this is most likely the final chapter. thanks for all the reviews! i'll post a new story as soon as i get inspiration!**


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